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Here’s what I’ll cover in this article:
Ok, so if you’re reading this article, then I’m assuming you’re at a place in your business where you’ve got consistent clients and good income to the point where you feel you’d like to reinvest in your business, and you’re thinking – what’s the best move?
You’ve probably heard a lot about ads and how they can be a game-changer for businesses.
And while I definitely agree with that assessment, there is also a lot of thought that needs to go into running ads, and even whether or not it’s the right move for your coaching business, and if it’s the right move right now.
So in this article, I’ll try to break down, to the best of my knowledge and experience, the pros and cons of running ads.
Now, I do want to start by stating that running ads is not my business, that it’s not my area of expertise, but that I do have experience running ads both for myself, as well as from helping my clients run their own ads.
I will therefore be speaking purely from my experience and what I’ve seen in the market, but if you’re considering running ads, you may want to speak to an expert in that area 🙂
Now that that’s been said, let’s talk about ads!
PROS OF RUNNING ADS
1 – INCREASED VISIBILITY AND REACH
Ok, so the first and most obvious pro is that running ads will not only increase your visibility significantly, it will also do so in record time.
Because you’re essentially paying for the platform to run your ad, you’re a lot less dependent on the algorithms to get your content seen (it will still matter some, but differently than normal, organic content).
So if you’ve got the income and you’re at a point in your business where you need more visibility, ads could really be a great tool for you to use.
2 – FAST RESULTS
If you’ve been a coach for any length of time – which, if you’re reading this article, I’m assuming you have been – then you know that organically posting to social media can take ageeeeezzzzzz before you start seeing results.
If you’re anything like me and, um… ahem… don’t really like social media and posting to it, then it can feel really draining to stick to it long enough to actually see those results (note: I never got to that point…)
So ads can be a great way to accelerate that process, get in front of the right people fast, and start interacting with them much sooner than you could organically.
3 – TARGETED ADVERTISING
On pretty much any platform you choose to runs ads on today (be it YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, or whatever), they all have one thing in common:
They have highly sophisticated targeting strategies for people who run ads.
You’ll have to look into each platform separately as each is slightly different in what you can do and how you should do it, but with each you’ll find that you can target your target demographic very specifically.
This means that in addition to getting in front of lots of people, you’re actually getting in front of the right people, which, not need to say, can be game-changing for your business!
4 – DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS
So I’m going to be upfront with you on this one – I’m not a very data-driven person naturally, and it’s caused me quite a bit of grief, especially in my early days of coaching.
I kept (and kind of still do on some level I guess) resisting the idea that everything you do in business needs to be driven by cold hard facts, and that some things can just be intuited.
Well, that lasted up until I started running ads for myself.
Boy, was I not prepared for that!
I’m not going to go into all the details, but let’s just say that I spent (wayyyyy) more than I should have on ads that weren’t working because I wasn’t paying attention to the data.
Ads make it really easy for you to actually have statistically significant data to make informed decisions on what’s working in your business: not only the ads themselves, but your freebies, your landing pages and funnels, and everything else.
So don’t be like me – actually pay attention to the data, and you’ll be well on your way to making incredible strides in your business!
5 – BRAND AWARENESS
We all know that with the constant barrage of information today, it can be really hard to get someone’s attention, and almost impossible to keep it.
Well, one thing that helps with that is brand awareness, because studies show that people are more likely to pay attention to a brand they know than one they don’t, which means that the brands they know are more likely to get their message across.
It stands to reason then that increasing your own brand awareness is a great business move, and one that’s made much easier by running ads to your audience.
CONS OF RUNNING ADS
1 – COST
Starting with the obvious again – the cost of running ads can be really high – especially if you’re unsure of what you’re doing, or running ads to a funnel that isn’t converting well.
Cost can also be driven by up competition – so if you’re running ads to a highly competitive market, it’s going to cost you a lot more to get the same number of impressions than it would to run the same ads to a low-competition audience.
In order to minimize cost and maximize results, you’ll have to either really dig into the proper way to run ads to your audience, or you may want to consider hiring an expert to do it for you.
You may think that this will only be increasing the cost, but the benefit in the long run of having someone do it right in the first place is absolutely worth it.
2 – AD FATIGUE
There’s something that’s known as ad fatigue – this is when your target audience sees your ads too much over too short a time, which can lead them to get, well, basically annoyed with you.
It can be a though balancing act to get enough exposure that you’re increasing brand awareness and building trust with your audience, but not so much that you’re getting on their nerves.
When you’re running ads, you want to make sure that you’re running diverse ads, with great creatives and content. If you do start to notice that your audience is getting fatigued (you’ll notice less engagement, maybe more negative attention as well), back off a little.
Maybe start running another campaign with different creatives, or to another freebie, or just take a break with ads altogether.
3 – STEEP LEARNING CURVE
As I’ve mentioned already a couple of times in this article, running ads is significantly more challenging than most people realize (this was certainly the case for me!)
There’s so much that you need to be able to know to run an effective campaign! You need to know how to set them up (this varies from platform to platform), how to target the right audience, what your budget should be, how to create visually compelling ads with great headlines and content that’s going to grab attention, how to read the data once you’ve stared running them, and so much more.
The worst part is that learning isn’t free – you’ll only learn by actually running ads, so while you’re trying to figure things out, your money’s dwindling…
So while it’s 100% possible to set things up and run ads yourself and learn along the way as you’re doing it, this is definitely something you’ll want to take into consideration!
4 – PLATFORM DEPENDENCY
This is the same whether you’re running ads or posting organically, and the main reason for which I always recommend sending people to your own platform (such as a landing page where you get their email in exchange for a freebie) so that you’re not dependent on the whims of any platform.
When you’re running ads, even though algorithms affect your ads differents than with organic content, it can still affect them. Policies can change. They can shut down and block your account (this happens especially often with FB). All of this can severely affect your ability to make money if you’re depending on any single platform for your leads!
So if you’re running ads, I’d highly recommend using a couple of different platforms (if you can), and sending all your leads to your email list, so that you own that information from then on out.
5 – QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
This is a trap that I very often see newbies fall into – vanity metrics.
People have a tendency to want more: more clicks, more views, more comments,…
The problem is that when you go for quantity, it’s very often to the detriment of quality. So while you may be getting a ton of views, you’re not getting any actual leads into your business, so none of these views translate to income for you.
The problem most of the time is that quality views (those that turn into paying clients down the road), are often more expensive to get than the simple like, which makes most people wary of narrowing the targeting of their ads.
I understand the appeal, but ultimately, this is a choice that could end up costing your business thousands if you’re not careful!
There you have my view on running ads in your coaching business – it can be absolutely great and a definite game-changer – if it’s doner right.
If you’re considering running ads, make sure you do your due dilligence and do your research!
So what’s next for you? Are you going to begin running ads? Are there some questions you’re still unsure about?
Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear!
Hope to talk soon, and in the meantime, take care!
Jen
P.S. Don’t forget to pin this for later!
